MacBook problem when using Google

[robav8r]

Any of you macbook experts know of the google search redirect issue (spyware)? The first time you click on a google search result, you get redirected to an advertisement. Went to the Apple store yesterday and they said they haven't heard of it. I heard that it could be a spyware called "rev-advert" but I have been unsuccessful in finding any gouge on how to remove it. Help !!!

 

[phrogpilot73]

And it starts... I've said for many years that Apple, and the Mac community have stuck their head in the sands and are ripe for exploitation. One of my instructors disagreed - until I pulled up a webpage that showed that hacking into Mac OS X took less time than hacking into Windows or Linux, mainly because of the arrogance of Apple...

Wish I could help, I'll do some research and see if I can find anything...

 

[SynixMan]

Try this: http://www.ehow.com/how_2128387_remove-osxrspluga-trojan-horse-mac.html

 

[Flash]

It actually seems to be an older problem, I Googled it and found a few possible solutions. The most consistent seems to be to reset Safari which you can do by going to Safari on the top menu bar and it is one of the selections on the drop down, make sure everything is selected. If that doesn't help you can probably search for more answers via Bing or another search engine.

 

[robav8r]

Cleared the cache & reset Safari - no joy. I'll keep searching . . . .

 

[jus2mch]

you may want to look here.

http://discussions.apple.com/thread...E5BBEBA275.node0?messageID=11250311&#11250311

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2490011&tstart=24

http://www.techsupportforum.com/alt...support/271112-jump-redirect-virus-mac-2.html


Sounds like it could be a .plist file problem or DNS Trojan. If you don't already have one, create another account, log on, and see if the problem is still there. If it isn't, then it is most likely a .plist file. Additionally, I would go here to ask some questions.

It's like the AirWarriors of Mac, if that's even possible.

http://forums.macosxhints.com/
or here

http://forums.macrumors.com/

 

[NightVisionPen]

Apple and their software are definitely not hack-proof. It is just that if you are a malevolent hacker out there and want to cause a lot of damage it just didn't make sense to target Macs. But as their market share grows, so will the security issues.

 

[Pugs]

Apple and their software are definitely not hack-proof. It is just that if you are a malevolent hacker out there and want to cause a lot of damage it just didn't make sense to target Macs. But as their market share grows, so will the security issues.

*Sigh* No, they are not "hackproof" but the OSX and Linux platform will never, and I mean never, have the issues with malware that the windows platform does today in it's current form with it’s anonymous registry (among other things) . It's a common canard to claim that because the OSX platform is less popular skilled people don't work at breaking it. That's not true. There are very active efforts by very skilled people working at it simply because cracking windows is easy and if you succeed at cracking OSX/Linux you will create quite the name for yourself in the blackhat world.

There are lots of issues with app vulnerabilities on the Mac, which is what you are facing, but as far as the OSX BSD core it's pretty damn secure,, configured right, against anything but a socially engineered attack.

I haven't used antivirus on any of my three Mac and two Umbutu platforms in years and have never had a problem and I often go looking for them on my test machines.

Go with this configuration and work with confidence. http://www.apple.com/support/security/guides/

 

[phrogpilot73]

There are very active efforts by very skilled people working at it simply because cracking windows is easy and if you succeed at cracking OSX/Linux you will create quite the name for yourself in the blackhat world.

You make it sound as if it hasn't been done... Root access in 30 minutes.

From the article:

"It probably took about 20 or 30 minutes to get root on the box. Initially I tried looking around the box for certain mis-configurations and other obvious things but then I decided to use some unpublished exploits -- of which there are a lot for Mac OS X," gwerdna told ZDNet Australia.

While I don't doubt that you understand the security policies - the vast number of Mac users may/may not. Throw in default usernames/passwords for wireless routers and default security settings - and it becomes ripe for exploit. I agree that it will never be to the extent of Windows, but I also agree with others that claim as market share increases, there will be more nefarious activity.

 

[StompinNightmare]

There are very active efforts by very skilled people working at it simply because cracking windows is easy and if you succeed at cracking OSX/Linux you will create quite the name for yourself in the blackhat world.

I've met a black hat before. I asked him about OSX. He said no one goes for it because it's too easy once you figure it out. Add that to the fact that there aren't nearly as many of them as there are windows and you get a large amount of disinterest among the black hat community. There are a few who focus on them, and that is evident by the few (but still substantial) number of mac specific malware/viruses. However, there will never be as many viruses for macs as there are for windows so long as windows dominates the market. This leads to a misconception that macs are more safe, when really they're only safe due to a lack of interest on the hacker's part.

No bias here. Own both a PC and a Mac, and I like them both.

 

[Pugs]

OK guys. Have a ball with that easy OS. Look at my background, look where I live and think about what I might do for a living now. All OS's are vulnerable in some manner but end-to-end exploits are much much harder on a linux box (to include OSX) and to conclude that an OS is insecure because of an exploit that was demo'ed five years ago is just damn silly. You know, the DO update these things and they ARE complex and with every new service comes a need to revaluate.

Understand the difference between crackiing, hacking, virus's, malware and how defense in depth works and then come back with a straight face and tell me what I have said is wrong. The security settings are easy and the Mac's come with 90% of them set that way out of the box.

Done.